1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of food flavorant capsules. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with the preparation of capsules in which there are contained aromatic and/or flavor components of a food material, which components are encapsulated before the possible loss or deterioration of these components, retained without degradation and subsequently released when desired, usually just prior to consumption of the ultimate product in which these capsules are contained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the preparation of various food products, for example, instant foods such as instant coffee, instant soups, instant cold drinks, instant desserts, etc., the desirability of retaining the flavor and/or aromatic constituents of these foods for a considerable length of time without their loss or deterioration until the food product is consumed has long been recognized.
Thus, essential oils, both cold pressed and concentrated, such as those of lemon, orange, lime, etc., are widely used as flavoring and scenting materials in the preparation of various consumer products. However, due to the extreme sensitivity of these oils to the action of heat, light, air and moisture, it has been very difficult to preserve the fresh fruit aroma and flavor of these essential oils when present in these various consumer products.
Similarly, other natural and synthetic flavors which consist of various combinations of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, etc., are liquids which are highly volatile and are also extremely sensitive to oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. Due to the aforementioned volatility, many of these extracts lose some of their original flavor or aroma or both upon storage alone or when employed in a consumer product. Moreover, because of the liquid nature of these flavoring materials, they also do not readily lend themselves for combination with solids or powders.
In the preparation of instant coffee, attempts have been made to incorporate the aroma principles of freshly roasted coffee by, for example, spraying them onto the surface of dried coffee extract as an emulsion with coffee oil. Careful sealing of the aromatized dried coffee is required, however, to prevent escape of the aroma. After the container is opened though, it is not too long before the aroma is lost in any event.
Encapsulation of coffee aroma has been investigated as a means for containing this aroma for long periods of time in instant coffee. Gums have been used for that purpose, but such use involves the introduction of extraneous matters into coffee. Coffee powder, too, has been used to prepare capsules filled with coffee solids impregnated with coffee aroma. In both cases, the amount of encapsulated aroma is rather low and this necessitates the addition of a relatively high proportion of capsules to the instant coffee.
Moreover, the techniques and/or materials that may be employed in retaining the flavor and/or aromatic components of one food may not necessarily be applicable to another food where the presence of such extraneous material or the implementation of particular process steps may be totally undesirable.